Collar supporting attachment for coat hangers



Sept. 1952 A. s. BURK ET AL COLLAR SUPPORTING ATTACHMENT FOR coA'r HANGERS Filed Jan. '7, 1949 Patented Sept. 9, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COLLAR SUPPORTING ATTACHMENT FOR 7 COAT HANGERS Alma lBurkand James A. Burk, Lynwood, Calif. Application January 7, 1949, Serial No. 69,635

1 Claim.

This invention has for its main pur'posethe provision of a garment hanger attachment which is so formed and angularly disposed that it will conform 'to the true-shape and the angular disposition-ofthe collar of a garment mounted on the hanger, to support the collar in its natural shape without wrinkling or deformation thereof.

Another purpose of this invention is to provide an attachment of the character described-which has a collar supporting portion that in addition to conforming to the natural curvature of the collar presents an inclined collar-supportingsurface which likewise conforms to the inclination usually taken by portions of the collar of a garment as; supported on the ordinary hanger, thus giving complete support for such portions of the collar topositively hold the collar againstwrinkling and deformation.

Another object is to provide an attachment such as described which as a one-piece article is simple and inexpensive as to construction and readily applicable to and removable from garment hangers,

With, the foregoing objects in view, together with such other objects and advantages as may subsequently appear, the invention resides in the parts and in the combination, construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a rear elevation of a hanger attachment made in accordance with our invention, as it would appear when mounted on a hanger, part of whichglatter is shown in dashed lines,

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the attachment, as when on the hanger, a portion of which latter is shown in dashed lines,

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the attachment as removed from the hanger,

Fig. 4 is a .top plan view of a modified of the attachment,

Fig., 5.is an edge view of the modified form, and

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the modified form as it would appear when attached to a hanger.

One embodiment of my invention as shown in the accompanying drawing comprises a collar supporting attachment which includes an elongated strap-like body portion 1 curved in the direction of its length and having at its ends integral clamping members 8 of an inverted U- shape constituting hanger embracing yokes for detachably holding the attachment on a coat hanger 9.

The body portion 1 and clamping members 8 are preferably made of somewhat resilient sheet form or strap material such as sheet metal or one of the present day popular plastic materials, the resiliency making it possible for the member 8 to frictionally grip the hanger.

In accordance with this invention, the straplike body portion 1 and the clamping members 8 are so constructed and arranged that when the members 8 are in place on a hanger, the body portion will extend angularly upwardly and rearwardly from the members 8 on one side: of the hanger. This body portion has a curvature to conform to the curvature of and support the collar of a garment (skirt, coat or the like), not shown, when such a garment is placed in the usual manner upon the hanger. This curvature is substantially less than a semi-circle and of such character as to make it possible for the body portion to conform to collars of different sizes with the collar spaced from the hook III of the hanger to prevent wrinkling and deformation which might otherwise take place.

In effect, the body portion 1 is twisted as at H adjacent its ends so that the convex surface of the major portion thereof is angularly disposed out of a vertical plane, being downwardly and rearwardly inclined as will be apparent with reference to Figs. 2 and 3. This inclined surface acts as a support for the collar and prevents the collar from sliding downwardly, thereby holding the central rear part of the collar above the plane of the center of the hanger with the sides of the collar sloping downwardly and forwardly while resting on the downwardly side portions of the body portion which extend downwardly forwardly to the clamping members 8.

We are aware of attachments for garment hangers, wherein the collar contacting portions are arcuate and present convex collar contacting portions which are disposed in a vertical plane. The collar will slide downwardly on such vertical portions and therefore will not be supported in normal position with the back of the collar elevated and the sides downwardly and forwardly inclined, which is the normal position of the collar of a garment mounted on a hanger, with the result that wrinkling and deformation, especially with freshly ironed collars will take place. With our improved support, the inclination of the convex collar-contacting and supporting surface of the device is such that the collar will be positively supported in the aforesaid inclined and normal position thereby positively preventing wrinkling and deformation thereof.

As shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6 a modification of our invention includes a normally flat and straight body portion i2 in strip form and made of material which is more flexible and resilient than in the preformed attachment shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. This flexible body portion [2 is provided adjacent its ends with notches l3 constituting hanger embracing yokes of a particular shape and disposition such that the body portion will be bent into arcuate form and have its convex side 'angularly disposed when the notched ends are fitted over the hanger 14 as shown in Fig. 6. The shape of the notches I 3 causes the attachment to be frictionally gripped with the hanger so that the body portion will be held in the distorted position shown in Fig. 6 to present a curved and convex collar-supporting surface which is downwardly and rearwardly inclined comparable in formation to that of the preshaped form of the invention shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. The notches [3 providing for this arrangement slant upwardly and toward the center of the body portion from the lower edge of the latter and are enlarged towards their inner ends. The outer edge 15 of each notch extends substantially at right angles to longitudinal axes of the body portion 1 2 and will closely engage and grip one side of the hanger as shown in Fig. 6 whereas the inner or opposite edge N5 of each notch inclined so that when the notched ends are distorted to fit over the hanger, these edges will tightly grip opposite sides of the hanger and hold the body portion in the curved and angularly disposed position shown in Fig. 6, to provide a collar supporting surface corresponding to that shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3.

While we have shown and described a specific embodiment of our invention we do not limit ourselves to the exact details of construction set forth, and the invention embraces such changes,

modifications and equivalents of the parts and their formation and arrangement as come within the purview of the appended claim.

We claim:

In a collar-supporting attachment for a garment hanger, an elongated strap-like body portion adapted to be flexed into arcuate form having hanger engaging notches adjacent the ends thereof adapted to engage opposite sides of a hanger and dispose the body portion in curved formation extending angularly upwardly and outwardly from the hanger, with an intermediate portion inclined and presented upwardly to form a collar receiving seat; said notches extending upwardly from the lower edge of the body portion'and being enlarged toward their inner ends REFERENCES CITED,

.The following references arehof record in the file of this patent: v V

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name I Date 2,147,590 Adkins Feb. 14, 1939 2,171,301 Christensen et a1. Aug. 29, 1939,

V FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date Great Britain Nov. 12, 1925 

